Fuck AI

A silent recession has arrived for recent college graduates. Over the past two years, unemployment among 22‑ to 27‑year‑olds with bachelor’s degrees has climbed to levels seen during economic downturns. A college diploma used to be an ironclad job guarantee. Today it seems more like a lottery ticket with shrinking odds.

This plunge is just the beginning. As generative A.I. improves, entry-level and service sector jobs may increasingly disappear, threatening not just workers, but also the cities where they live. Recent research by the Brookings Institution shows how San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., New York and Washington could soon face significant job disruption, thanks to the rise of A.I. In San Jose, a striking 43 percent of workers could see A.I. transform half or more of their tasks.

There’s little evidence that A.I. has already begun taking jobs en masse. But just as manufacturing towns in the 1960s failed to recognize the looming threat of new technology, today’s leading service hubs risk underestimating the disruption of A.I. — especially as Silicon Valley races to automate white-collar work. As the history of deindustrialization teaches us, spotting early warning signs is crucial to adaptation and survival.